The Oklahoma Bar Journal March 2024

Ethics Counsel Richard D. Stevens, OBA Management Assistance Program Director Jim Calloway and OBA Practice Management Advisor Julie Bays. As a result of the trust account overdraft reporting notifications, the Office of the General Counsel is able to monitor when lawyers encounter difficulty with the man agement of their IOLTA accounts. Upon recommendation of the Office of the General Counsel, the Commission may place those individuals in a tailored program designed to instruct on basic trust accounting proce dures. This course is also available to the OBA general membership as a continuing legal education course.

SURVEY OF GRIEVANCES To better inform the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the bar and the public of the nature of the grievances received, the number of lawyers receiving grievances and the practice areas of misconduct involved, the following information is presented. Formal and informal grievances were received against 872 lawyers. Therefore, fewer than 5% of the lawyers licensed to practice law in Oklahoma received a grievance in 2023. A breakdown of the types of misconduct alleged in the 215 formal grievances opened by the Office of the General Counsel in 2023 is as follows:

Dismissals. The Professional Responsibility Commission dismissed 13 grievances that had been received but not concluded due to the resignation of the lawyer pending disciplinary proceedings, a con tinuing lengthy suspension of the respondent lawyer, death of the respondent lawyer or disbarment of the respondent lawyer. The remainder were dismissed where the investigation could not substantiate the alle gations by clear and convincing evidence. Diversion Program. The Professional Responsibility Commission may also refer respondent lawyers to the Discipline Diversion Program, where remedial mea sures are taken to ensure that any deficiency in the representation of a client does not occur in the future. During 2023, the Commission referred 21 lawyers to the Discipline Diversion Program for conduct involv ing 29 grievances. The Discipline Diversion Program is tailored to the individual circumstances of the participating lawyer and the misconduct alleged. Oversight of the program is by the OBA Ethics Counsel, with the OBA Management Assistance Program staff involved in programming. Program options include Trust Account School, Professional Responsibility/Ethics School, Law Office Management Training, Communication and Client Relationship Skills and Professionalism in the Practice of Law. In 2023, instructional courses were taught by OBA General Counsel Gina Hendryx, OBA

48 | MARCH 2024

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL